One Day at a Time
by jackshodgins
Summary: Start: Angela comforts Brennan in the aftermath of Booth breaking off the engagement. Time setting is one and a half months after that event.
1. Chapter 1

A month and a half had passed since one of the most suspenseful, emotional, and gut-wrenching days Temperance Brennan had ever lived through, and yet she still could not fully grasp the idea that her partner, Seeley Booth, had called their engagement off. Brennan had summed up every bit of confidence she owned to propose to Booth. After all, she only wanted him to be happy. She had finally been fully ready to permanently take her heart out of the box and give it to someone else. And even though she had rambled through the proposal, unable to find exactly what she wanted to say to the man she loved, the moment Booth had said, "Yes, of course. Yes," she realized that she didn't even know how to explain the sheer happiness and euphoria she felt. Angela knew how Brennan felt, but she had always known just what Booth meant to Brennan.

Now, at 1:13 AM, sitting on the couch in the living room, Brennan heard Booth's acceptance tumbling through her head. Before she could stop herself, she felt the tears welling up in her eyes. Sitting by herself in the dimly illuminated room of the dark house reminded her of everything that had caused her to be alone for so long in the first place, even though her partner and mate as well as her child were upstairs, sleeping. Putting trust in another person was a risk for her, and opening up, she knew, could almost be dangerous. Another person could so easily choose to disregard everything she had put into opening up. The words that shotgunned through her mind next took her breath away, and caused a very real, physical pain: "I don't think we should do it." A sea of dark emotions churned throughout her body, and, with no other outlet, began to quickly leak down her cheeks. A thousand times she had thought through why Booth might have said those words. None seemed a logical enough reason. Brennan prided herself in being logical and rational, yet every explanation seemed less and less rational and began to frustrate her so deeply and internally that sometimes, even work couldn't provide a distraction. Her throat closing, and gasping a little for air, Brennan slipped her phone out of her pocket and touched the number she was searching for.

"Ange? I need you," Brennan choked out.

"I'm coming."

* * *

Not even fifteen minutes later, after giving Christine a light kiss, checking to make sure Booth was still soundly asleep, and writing a quick note in case Booth woke up, Brennan silently pulled the front door shut and locked it. Angela was leaning against her car on the curb, not looking even the least bit upset that Brennan had called her in the very early hours of morning. Instead, her face was soft, but also searching – she studied her best friend as best she could as Brennan walked over to the car. Angela reached out and pulled her best friend into a tight hug. Brennan couldn't help but feel fresh tears glaze her eyes and then proceed to dampen her cheeks. After a few minutes, Brennan let go and walked to the other side of the car to get in.

In a very subdued voice, Angela murmured, "We're going to my house. Jack's asleep and will be for hours." Without waiting for a response, she started the car and pulled away from the curb.

* * *

After getting in the house, Angela prodded Brennan into the guest bedroom, away from those sleeping in the quiet home, and watched as Brennan collapsed onto the bed. Angela climbed in next to her and rubbed her best friend's back in an attempt to be soothing. As Brennan shook with sobs, Angela felt her own heart breaking. What could she say to her? She didn't know why Booth had broken off the engagement any more than Brennan, or anyone else, did. With an almost nonexistent smile, Angela recalled the afternoon she had shoved Booth into her office when Brennan hadn't been around and absolutely let him have it for doing that to Brennan. Everyone at work had immediately been able to tell that something was wrong with Brennan, even though she had, of course, been trying to hide it. Coming back to the present, Angela watched as Brennan slowly began to turn on her side to face Angela. With red, puffy eyes, tear-stained cheeks, and her hair a tangled knot, Brennan was a complete mess. Brennan slowly scooted her way across the bed and put her head in Angela's lap. Angela put her arms around Brennan and held her close.

"I…just…don't…understand why," Brennan rasped out. "I don't know. I don't know. I don't – I just – ." New tears glistened in her eyes and squeezed out.

"Shhhhh. Sweetie. I'm here. That's what matters right now," Angela muttered, almost to herself. Her anger at Booth was building up again, and in the moment of frustration, she felt tears rolling down her own cheeks. She held her best friend tighter in that moment.

"Help me, Ange," Brennan hoarsely replied, minutes later. "It's – it's – it's not rational, but it – it – it hurts so bad."

"Sweetie," Angela began, but quickly stopped, because her throat was closing up. Her best friend was hurting and she wasn't even sure how to help her. "One day at a time," she whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

The two friends were awoken the next morning before either was ready when Hodgins opened the door of the bedroom, searching for Angela. Upon spotting Brennan looking disheveled next to his wife, he stepped back out of the doorway.

"Um, Dr. Brennan. Hi! Didn't expect to see you here this morning."

With a swift glance at Angela, Brennan got up off the bed and took a single step towards the door. "Dr. Hodgins, hello. I hope you don't mind that I took Angela away from you for a night. I should be getting home to Christine. Angela, thank you for letting me stay."

"Sweetie, you know I'm here for you any time you need me."

As Brennan approached Hodgins in the doorway, Hodgins noticed how tired his colleague looked. Her eyes were red; her hair, normally tidy, was a mess; her clothes were rumpled; she herself looked beaten down. He had worked with her for years now, and he couldn't remember the last time he had seen her look so defeated. Angela followed Brennan out of the room and walked with her to the front door.

Angela didn't let her best friend walk out the door just yet. "Bren, wait. You can't keep doing this to yourself. You're killing yourself over this, and it's killing me. I can't stand to see you hurting. Something's going to snap eventually."

Brennan, exhausted but wanting to see her daughter, replied, "Ange, I appreciate what you did for me last night. But I need to continue to live my life, and if I shed some tears every now and then, so be it." With that, she loosened Angela's grip on her wrist, opened the door, and walked out.

Angela stood in front of the closed door for a few minutes, feeling lost, and grieving heavily inside for her best friend.

Upon arriving home around 8:45am, Brennan trudged heavily to the door and unlocked it slowly, torn between wanting to see her daughter and facing the man she had quietly walked out on in the early hours of the day.

Setting her keys down on the kitchen counter, Brennan looked around, spotting neither Booth nor Christine. Not hungry, but also unsure of what to do, she walked to the fridge and decided to pull out a bowl of strawberries that she had cut up the day before. Struggling to maneuver the bowl around the other items on the shelf, Brennan thought she could successfully pull out the bowl without any hassle, but accidentally bumped it against the top shelf while bringing it out. Surprised, she dropped the bowl and watched as it crashed to the floor, shattering the bowl into pieces and spilling strawberries everywhere.

Frustrated, Brennan started to cry. She bent down to pick up the loose pieces of the bowl first, knowing that she had to get every little bit so that Christine wouldn't cut herself on the sharp shards. Not expecting him, Brennan jerked when she saw Booth come into the kitchen. He appraised the situation, first looking a little at her, then at the mess on the floor, then back at her.

"What the hell, Bones?" Brennan knew he wasn't referring to the mess on the floor when he said that. He sounded so angry, and it nearly frightened her. "Why the hell did you leave last night? You left me, but more importantly, you left Christine."

Still in shock, Brennan gaped up at him, unsure of what to say. "I-"

"You what? You thought it would be okay to just leave in the middle of the night?"

"I left a note, Booth," she got out, in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Do you think that makes up for the fact that you left? Christine has been crying 'mama' all morning. So where the hell did you go?"

"I- I- I- had to go to Angela," she rasped, looking at the floor. _Why am I acting like this? _she wondered._ This is not rational behavior in any way._

_"_I'm so glad you got in quality time with your best friend in the middle of the night," Booth said sarcastically. Brennan looked whipped at this remark.

Still struggling to pick up the jumble on the floor, she felt the tears falling. "I'm sorry," she whispered, now not even attempting to talk in a normal voice. Two of her tears dripped off her cheeks and splashed onto the floor, tiny little droplets that she tenderly rubbed away.

Booth, finally noticing the red-rimmed eyes and tears, knew it wasn't just about him yelling at her for leaving. He realized he'd just been harsh, but what was visible in that moment was the stage of fragility she had entered. His heart ached then, so suddenly and painfully, that he longed to reach out, caress her cheek, and kiss away the tears. Taking a small step toward her, he waited until her watery eyes had met his. He closed the distance and scooped her up into his arms, holding her close. Brennan turned her face away from his and buried it into his shirt. He could feel the tears beginning to wet the cotton and he felt horrible. Still holding her in his arms, he walked over to the couch and sat down.

"I'm sorry, baby," he moaned softly, his voice full of anguish and torment. He held her to him, felt her tears saturating her shirt, and simply let her cry.


	3. Chapter 3

Later that evening, dinner was a quiet affair. Even Christine, who normally made a noisy mess while sitting in her high chair, was unusually hushed. Booth had made a simple meal of pasta and salad, and he and Brennan sat next to each other, eating at the counter in silence. The only sounds occasionally echoing across the room were Christine's contented noises of eating and the clink of silverware against the plates. Brennan, upon finishing up, picked up her plate and walked over to the sink to rinse it off.

Seeing Christine was done eating, Brennan gathered her daughter from the high chair and placed her on her hip. With a little smile at the girl in her arms, she left the kitchen area, leaving Booth still at the counter.

After walking upstairs and slowly pushing open the door to Christine's room, Brennan switched Christine's position from her hip to a cradle in her arms. Exhausted from the day, Brennan collapsed into the rocking chair and held her daughter close.

"Christine, honey, I don't expect you to be able to remember any of what I'm going to tell you, but I just want to tell you I love you so much. Dada loves you too, more than anything. You are the best thing that's ever happened to us. Your father has taught me so much about what it truly means to have a family, and I'm so thankful for that. But we're going through a tough time right now."

Booth, who had finally finished up in the kitchen, decided to go check up on Brennan, even though he knew where she was and knew she was fine, at least for the moment. Not wanting to disturb her, he crept up the stairs slowly and stopped outside Christine's room when he heard Brennan's soft and gentle voice.

"…it's not good for us right now. We're trying really hard to put things back together, but I'm not sure if we can do that, sweetheart. I don't know what I did wrong, but I just want to fix things. Thinking logically, I've come to realize that if I can identify what I did wrong, and understand why it was wrong, maybe I can fix things.'

Hearing this, Booth slid down the wall and slumped on the floor. His head immediately went into his hands, and he could feel angry, hot tears pricking their way to his eyes. Bones thought it was her fault – if only she knew! If only he could tell her! There was no way to do so without knowing whether Pelant had heard or not. Why had Pelant forced him to hurt her so deeply?

"I mean, has the chemistry between us changed? I have no tangible proof as to if Booth loves me any less, but I know I love him. It took me so long to get to that point, baby. Can you believe I once thought love was only a chemical process? I've changed, I've opened up…"

At this point, Booth wiped his eyes and stood up. He knocked almost inaudibly on the door, but he knew Brennan could hear. She cleared her voice before responding, "Come in, Booth."

Booth assessed the room before fully entering. He observed Brennan in the chair, snuggling Christine tight; Christine's crib, with Parker's pictures hanging above; Christine's artwork on the walls, which Brennan had once so vehemently praised; and once again, his eyes came back to Brennan in the chair. Her eyes seemed a little red, so he guessed that she had been crying while talking to Christine, even though he hadn't heard it.

He stammered a little bit. "I, uh, I thought, uh, I'd come in and say goodnight to Christine with you." Brennan looked up at him and studied his face, but wasn't sure what to make of it. She didn't realize Booth had heard everything she'd said to Christine.

"Of – of course. She's been sleeping for a few minutes now," Brennan replied, extremely subdued. She lovingly brushed Christine's curls with her fingers and listened to the little girl's deep breathing, nearly jealous that Christine could fall asleep so easily, nothing to worry her innocent little mind, nothing to keep her awake.

Booth leaned down and kissed Christine's forehead. "Dada loves you, Christine. Always," he whispered. Brennan kissed her daughter's forehead as well and stood up so she could set the child in her crib. Together, the two of them stood and watched their daughter sleep for a few moments before exiting and gently closing the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thank you so much to all of you who have favorited my story or are following it. And a huge thanks to all of you who have written reviews. Reviews are very much appreciated. Suggestions are also welcomed, I would love to know what you guys want to see!**

In their bedroom, Booth and Brennan silently got ready for bed, a tension hanging like a cloud between them. Brennan stripped down and pulled on one of Booth's oversized FBI t-shirts while Booth stripped down to just his underwear.

Brennan almost felt embarrassed looking at him, but she couldn't help but stare at the muscular physique she had always loved. Brennan couldn't even explain to herself why she nearly felt embarrassed – he was her partner! But the slight strain between them was turning her into someone she did not want to be. She felt like a shadow of her former self, and she wasn't sure how to find herself again amidst everything going on. Tears sprung to her eyes, and Brennan didn't want to cry in front of Booth again, but nothing seemed to stop these tears. She walked over to the bed, pulled back the covers, and swiftly climbed in, trying to avoid Booth's searching eyes. Now was not the time for her to look into his warm chocolate eyes and completely break down.

Booth climbed into bed a moment later, aching to hold his beautiful Bones, but knowing that her turned back meant she didn't even want to make a little small talk before sleeping. His eyes flicked to the window by the bed, where small slivers of moonlight were shining through the cracks in the blinds. He let his eyes follow one little slice of the light until they landed on Brennan, and that's when he noticed the barely existent shudder of her shoulders.

She was crying. Booth felt like he had been kicked in the gut. Had he not caused her to cry already today? He was hurting her over and over again, hurting her when he should have been comforting and holding her. His once impervious partner had simply become strong; she had changed for him. But now he feared that what had happened was once again changing her, this time for the worse – back to what she started at. Heart in a box, walls surrounding her in every way.

Dejected and unable to sleep, he watched her tiny, fragile movements as she gradually stopped shuddering and began to lay more still.

"I love you, Bones," he whispered, but there was no way for him to know if she'd heard him and no indication of anything otherwise.

* * *

The next morning was a Monday, meaning that Booth and Brennan both were headed back to work. Brennan awoke early and found that Booth had already gotten up because the bed was empty, Tying on a robe, Brennan peeked in the bathroom and found Booth was not there, either. She proceeded to pad down the hall to Christine's room, but found her crib empty, too.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Brennan realized that Booth had cooked breakfast and had gotten Christine ready for daycare.

"Good morning," he murmured.

"Morning," she replied, a thin smile barely spreading her lips. She stood in the doorway as she watched Booth put the dishes he used to cook into the sink.

"Sit, eat," he told her. Brennan eyed him for a few seconds before obediently moving towards the table to sit next to Christine. After giving her daughter a kiss on the forehead, she asked her daughter, "Did you sleep well?"

Christine merely looked at her mother, too busy shoveling the food in front of her in her mouth. Absently, Brennan stroked Christine's hair across her forehead and lovingly caressed the little girl's cheek before turning to the plate Booth was setting in front of her

"Thanks Booth," she said, meeting his eyes, but then quickly averting them.

"Alright, listen, I've got to go and get into work early to get some paperwork done. I'll call you in a while, okay?"

"That's fine," Brennan responded. Booth leaned down to give her a light kiss goodbye, and Brennan cringed away involuntarily.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Bones, c'mon," he sighed unhappily, and he leaned down again. His lips touched hers very softly, and he was reminded of the awkward times they had shared after Brennan had returned from being on the run. _Always because of Pelant_, he thought.

"See you later," he said, grabbing his phone off the counter and proceeding to walk out the door.

"Bye," Brennan replied, in a voice that Booth could not have heard unless he had been in the same room. She exhaled loudly and picked up the plate of food she had hardly touched to take it over to the trash. While scraping the cold food off, Brennan watched as Christine turned around in her high chair, her eyes searching for her mother.

"I'm over here, sweetheart," Brennan called, and Christine's wandering eyes found her mother's at last. Christine reached her hands up, wanting to be held. "Alright, here we go," Brennan crooned to her little girl, picking her up and settling her on her hip.

Carrying her daughter up the stairs, Brennan realized she really did not want to part with Christine that day. She wanted to snuggle her daughter close and play with her and not let the girl out of her sight. But Brennan knew she actually needed to work today. They were looking at a set of remains that had just been delivered from Peru. Archaeologists were extremely excited about the find and had asked the Jeffersonian team to study the bones.

After setting her daughter on the floor next to her in the bathroom, Brennan looked in the mirror and realized just how tired she looked. Feeling somewhat gloomy, she pulled a brush through her chestnut brown hair and applied minimal makeup. Next, she pulled on a pair of simple black pants, a blue patterned top, a cardigan, and a pair of black boots. Looking at the clock on the bedside table, Brennan realized she should probably hurry to get Christine to daycare. Thankful that Booth had already gotten Christine ready, Brennan scooped her up and zipped down the stairs into the kitchen. _Keys, keys, keys_, she thought, trying to remember where she'd put them.

After at last finding the keys, grabbing her purse and phone, and getting Christine buckled into her car seat, Brennan set out for the Jeffersonian. Dropping Christine off was easy, but Brennan's heart ached to see her daughter go. She put aside her own personal misery for the time being and carried on.

Upon entering the Jeffersonian, Brennan quickly made for her office, completely unphased by the bustle of people going about their jobs. Once in her office, Brennan grabbed her blue labcoat and looked through the mail that had been dropped off for her. Nothing seemed particularly interesting or valuable, so she put aside the mail and left her office.

After swiping her ID card to enter the platform, Brennan realized that her best friend hadn't come to talk, nag, or say anything otherwise to her. Spotting Hodgins on the platform, Brennan asked, "Dr. Hodgins, do you happen to know where Angela is?"

Hodgins replied, too quickly, "No idea." But Brennan didn't notice the unusual tone his voice carried because she was lost in thought about Angela.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the FBI Building, Booth was just opening up the door to his office when he spotted a familiar figure lounging in the corner chair. The moment he spotted her, he knew why she was there. _Angela_, he thought. _Shit_.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Sorry it took so long to update! I've been busy with school. Hope you like this next chapter. Thank you again for reviews/favorites/follows/etc. Please leave suggestions, as I'm extremely open to them!**

* * *

Booth's eyes opened wide when he saw the woman in the chair, but he decided not to say anything to her yet. Instead, he stepped inside the office, quickly pulled the door shut, and made sure the blinds were all drawn. Acting as if no one was there, Booth made his way to the chair behind the desk and eased himself into it. He was behind on paperwork and needed to get it done, but Angela obviously had other plans. She cleared her throat loudly.

"Angela, hi, I can't talk right now, I've got work to do," Booth responded, averting her eyes by looking at the paperwork in front of him.

"Seeley Booth, you are going to talk to me right now whether you want to or not," Angela snapped.

Booth slowly brought his eyes up to meet hers. He hadn't realized that Angela had stood up, but he had known that he was going to meet a fiery glare.''

"Angela, here is not a good place."

"What do you want, Booth? A sound-proof room? Sorry, not gonna happen," Angela sarcastically replied.

"Please, just – just – just not here," Booth said quietly.

"Did you even _realize_ exactly what Brennan was doing the other night? Did you even care enough? Or did you just yell at her about that?" Angela said, her voice rising in pitch. Booth looked away. He _had_ yelled at Brennan for leaving, and he felt terrible about it.

"Your silence is meaning more to me now than anything you've said yet. You're an asshole, Booth. Brennan called me the other night in a state beyond despair. She's still in complete anguish. She has no idea why you broke off the engagement. No one has any idea what you were even thinking."

Booth tried to interject, but Angela cut him off.

"No. Shut up. Do not start talking. So after that phone call, I came and picked her up, and she cried to me until she fell asleep. No, I take that back. She didn't cry, she sobbed to the point where I think –"

"Angela, stop," Booth moaned.

"No!" Angela positively screamed. "She's my best friend and you're hurting her! What the hell is wrong with you! Do you even remember how long it took her to finally open up to you?" A few tears spilled onto Angela's cheeks, but they were more tears of anger than tears of sadness.

"Angela, I have reasons, you have to trust that."

"Reasons?" she said. "REASONS? You know what you're doing, Booth? You're ruining Brennan's _very_ fragile heart. I'm sure you know just how carefully it's been pieced together. You've both broken and mended that heart before."

At this point, Booth stood up. The grief glinted in his eyes as he spoke his next words almost painfully. "I love Bones. I'm not trying to hurt her."

"Tell that to someone who will actually listen to your bullshit." Angela gathered her coat and purse, wiped away the tears that had fallen, and made her way to the door. "Fuck you, Booth," she said as she opened the door, not bothering to make the words quiet. Several people working at the desks in front of her turned their heads, but Angela was already striding out towards the elevator.

Her anger at Booth had risen, not lessened, by talking to him. He had acted extremely weakly and pathetically and offered no defense for hurting her best friend.

Booth, on the other hand, had crumbled. Getting up and locking the door to his office, he felt so ashamed and pitiful that after he sat down again, he put his head into his hands and cried. The burden of his secret was becoming too much to bear alone.

* * *

Back at the Jeffersonian, Brennan was sitting in front of her computer, staring at it blankly. The document on the screen held no meaning, it was simply there. She was lost in thought. She didn't heart the distant sound of heels quickly approaching, didn't see the figure that now stood in the doorway of her office.

Cam knocked twice, hanging inside the doorway. "Dr. Brennan, are you alright?"

Brennan finally came to. "Oh, Dr. Saroyan, yes. I'm fine. Just a little tired," she said, blinking a few times.

"Alright," Cam replied. "I've got a technician at the entrance who needs you to sign off on a package."

"Okay, I'll be there in a moment," Brennan answered, and Cam turned and clicked away. Brennan took a deep breath and slowly stood up. The fatigue was weighing on her. She wanted to have Christine with her. She wanted to have Booth with her, but not the Booth from the past month and a half. She wanted to be able to reach up and kiss him without awkward tension; to be able to put her arm in his when he picked her up for lunch at The Diner. With a heavy sigh, she left her office to search for the technician who needed her.

As she signed off for the package, Angela walked in, looking a little red in the cheeks.

"Sweetie!" Angela walked over to the semi-confused Brennan. "How are you?" Angela said softly as she gave her best friend a hug.

"I'm okay," Brennan murmured, offering Angela a small smile. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, don't worry about me," Angela responded, briskly. "I just had to run a few errands. For, um, Michael Vincent."

"Oh. Okay. Well, I was looking for you earlier, and Hodgins told me he didn't know where you were, so I went and tried to do a little paperwork and such until you came. We need a facial reconstruction."

"I'm here now. Did you need to talk to me about something?" Angela said, her voice sounding a little alarmed.

"No, no, I'm um –" her eyes filled with tears as she thought about her morning. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me right now. Obviously I don't normally act like this," Brennan whispered, her voice a pitch lower than before.

Angela hugged her friend tightly. "My office, now," she muttered in Brennan's ear. Brennan shuffled after Angela, who shut the office door tight after Brennan had entered.

"Sweetie, forget your mind for a second. I know it's telling you that this isn't your normal rational behavior, but you have to listen to your heart right now. And your heart is telling you that you're hurting. And that needs to be fixed. This situation is messed up. Booth wouldn't do this to you. He looks like he's hurting too. So clearly something happened."

"I don't know, Ange. I really don't know. We've been over this before and I just don't know."


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Chapter isn't finished, but Sweets/Booth scene is! Suggestions would be helpful right now :)**

* * *

At the FBI Building, Booth was still sitting with his head in his hands when he heard someone try the door and then proceed to knock. He couldn't remember if he had scheduled a meeting and panicked a little, knowing he probably looked completely pathetic. He was supposed to be strong; the lion hearted man. But instead he was weak, overcome by a desire to kill the man messing his family up, but also completely unsure how to deal with the problem. Wiping his eyes and running a hand through his hair, Booth stood up as the unidentified person at the door knocked again.

Opening the door, Booth saw Sweets standing there, getting ready to knock again. "Agent Booth," he began. "Remember we were going to talk about –" Sweets swiftly stopped talking as he appraised Booth's current state. "Whoa, Booth, are you okay, man?"

"Sweets. Don't you dare go shrinky on me. I'm not in the mood for it," Booth said roughly. "Sorry, I forgot you were coming."

"Booth, forget about that. You're a mess right now. You're in no condition to talk about any cases." Sweets stepped into the office and pulled the door shut. Booth wearily walked over to his desk and sat down in the chair.

Sweets started talking again. "Look, Booth, you can talk to me about personal matters. You know that. Like I've said before, I don't have to just be the shrink." Booth looked up at Sweets. "Have – have you been _crying_?"

"Alright, Sweets, you can go," Booth retorted.

"No, Booth, seriously. What has gotten into you?"

Booth sighed and looked down at his hands on the desk. "It's…Bones," he said.

"Well, what's the matter? Is she hurt?" Sweets asked, concerned.

"No, no – not strictly in that matter. But yes. I've hurt her. By breaking off the engagement. She continues to cry about it, even if I don't always see it happen. She went to Angela's house the other night, for God's sake. What's the matter with me?"

"Booth, you know we _all_ question the reasoning behind you breaking that off. I've – I've even been trying to study you to maybe figure it out a little. Obviously, you were happy after she proposed. You told me so. But something happened in between then and that night, I'm guessing. I don't know what, I'm trying to figure it out."

"Sweets, really, you know - it's none of your business."

"Yeah, it is my business. You wanted it, and then you didn't. What that says to me is clearly there is something more at stake here. Like I said, I'm still trying to figure it out. You wouldn't intentionally inflict pain upon Dr. Brennan, so we're all a little confused right now, Booth."

Booth picked up his phone and absentmindedly played around with it in his hands. "Sweets, I appreciate it, alright? But I don't want to hear this right now. We can, um, talk again later."

Sweets' face puckered a little in confusion, but he strode to the door, opened it, and then turned around and looked at Booth. The hurt was clearly visible on Booth's face, but Sweets knew he shouldn't push it. He faced forward again and left, letting the door swing shut behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Who's ready for the premiere? Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. But get pumped for the premiere!**

* * *

Back at the lab, Brennan was laying down on the couch in Angela's office, her head in her best friend's lap. Angela was smoothing Brennan's hair.

"Sweetie, I don't want to rush anything right now, but we should probably get back to work. Cam's probably looking for us."

"That's fine, Ange. I can handle it," Brennan answered, and sat up. She rubbed her tired eyes and proceeded to stand up at the same time as Angela. Brennan turned and faced Angela.

"I really appreciate all you're doing for me right now, Ange. You're always there for me. You're an incredible friend – a true sister," Brennan said. Angela grabbed her friend's hands and held them in hers.

"You know there's nothing I wouldn't do for you," Angela replied. Brennan gave her best friend a small smile and turned to leave the room. After she had left, Angela sat down again on the couch and stared blankly, still left with a grieving feeling over how bad her best friend was hurting.

Brennan slid her ID and stepped up onto the platform to see what Hodgins was working on. She cleared her throat when Hodgins didn't look up.

"Dr. Hodgins."

"Oh, Dr. Brennan. Hey. Look at these little guys," he said, pointing to the large bunch of larvae on the remains.

"Can you tell me anything about the remains yet based on your findings?" Brennan asked.

"Not yet, still waiting for the Mass Spec to get back to me on some of the particulates I found in the shreds of clothing."

"Alright. Well Angela needs to do a facial reconstruction and I need to get the bones cleaned."

"Right. I'll go check the Mass Spec now," Hodgins said, and left the platform. As Brennan pulled on her gloves and looked the remains over, she heard Cam coming up the steps.

"Dr. Brennan, may I ask where you've been for the past 45 minutes?" Cam asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"I was…with Angela. It seems I still have to figure out why I continue to feel so hurt by Booth's rejection," Brennan responded in an even tone.

Cam's face immediately softened. "Oh. Then may I say that Booth really is a good man, Dr. Brennan. There must be a good reason behind this."

"Although I struggle to find the reasoning, I do suppose that I agree. I find that I would like to know the reasoning. I fear that something…might be wrong within the relationship, but I have no conclusive evidence of this yet," Brennan said. She continued to study the bones, mentally noting some of the visible irregularities.

Angela came up the platform. "Hodgins is about to come flying in here with whatever _groundbreaking_ thing he found. Prepare yourselves."

Hodgins proceeded to do so about a minute later. Nearly breathing hard, he informed them of what the particles were and what region they came from.

"Thank you, Dr. Hodgins," Cam said, cutting him off from continuing to rant.

"Oh – yeah. I'll be in my office," he finished, and turned and left again.

Cam faced Brennan. "I wouldn't normally do this, but it seems as though you're having a difficult time focusing on the remains. Go pick up Christine and go home. Get some rest. _Real_ rest. I know it's difficult right now."

"Wow, Cam, look at you!" Angela exclaimed, impressed Cam was letting Brennan leave.

"Thank you, Dr. Saroyan. I'll see you tomorrow." Brennan headed to her office to pick up her things.

Cam looked at Angela. "I really wish I knew what to do for Dr. Brennan right now. It's frustrating to not know what Booth was thinking."

Angela replied, "Cam, if only. But Booth's not gonna tell us jack. I tried already."

"I've known Booth for a long time. I'll see if maybe I can say something to him," Cam said.

* * *

At home with Christine, Brennan decided to take a nap with Christine on the couch. Christine herself seemed pretty worn out, and Brennan wondered what all her daughter had done all day. She hoped for more paintings to hang around Christine's room. With heavy eyes and a heavy heart, Brennan uneasily drifted off to sleep with her daughter talked into the crook of her arm.

When she awoke, it was dark outside. Booth was not home. Christine was noisy because she wanted dinner.

By 11 o'clock, Brennan became slightly worried because Booth still had not returned and he hadn't called. Dialing his number slowly, she put the phone up to ear, but only heard the continued rings echoing into empty space.

She was lonely in the house. After putting Christine to bed, she had tried reading, but couldn't focus; she tried to clean up around the kitchen, but found cleaning unsettling; she was restless in general.

By 12:30AM, Brennan sat at the kitchen counter, now sure that Booth was not coming home. She wasn't sure where he was and why he hadn't called, but it hurt too much to think about. Reluctantly picking up the phone, she tried to call Booth again – but still no answer. Brennan couldn't think of a reason why he would ignore her. She went upstairs and crawled into a ball in bed, feeling alone and exhausted, aching for sleep but not looking forward to sleeping by herself.


End file.
